Hello everyone. I am beginning my 2nd PTR and thank YOU for joining.
First the players:

Me: Dee 50 (yikes is that possible? 50 already? seems I was just 30) the planner. Vertically challenged& as in I have a balance disorder. J
DH: 52 (that is totally possible. Hehehe) professional computer system analyst, however has been displaced after 23 years in the same work place and is now paying the bills (and financing our Disney obsession) by working as Store manager.
DD#2: turns the big 1-0. Shhhh&This is her surprise

Well, I should also mention we have a total of 4 children. The oldest 3 are triplets and are currently finishing their final year(s) of college. They are:

DS#1 - commutes to college from home. Enjoys Disney once there, but wouldn't put the cash out himself to go.

DS#2 - lives at school, but is only about 1 hour drive away. Loves Disney, his dream is to work there.

DD#1 - same college as DS#2, but this year she began commuting. Loves Disney, especially trips her BF of 5 years can join us on.

I hate to do this, but I must be a bit of a downer for a moment. This is somewhat important in the planning of this trip. And may indeed alter whether we go this summer or not. That is yet to be seen.

We are DVC members. That's NOT the downer. We had used all of our points from 2012 and most of them from 2013 for the a 30th anniversary trip in Nov. 2012. Therefore we had warned all concerned there would not be a 2013 trip. still, believe it or not, NOT the downer.
But…this is where this PTR begins.
As a family we have experienced great heart ache over the past 15 months. We find ourselves picking ourselves up, dusting ourselves off, only to get knocked off our feet again. The most recent heartache was the passing of my Dad in February. 11 months prior he had moved up north solely to be closer his family. DD9 was so excited at the thought he would be here for her 10th bday in August. And my college kids so very excited to have their “Bumpa” here when they graduated college this spring. We have all been knocked down by this. I mention this because, it may very well come into our WDW plans for this surprise summer trip.
that is my Dad from just a couple of months ago. He is wearing a hat we had given him when we surprised him by meeting up with him in Disney. It was Christmas time, so we had filled this hat as a Christmas stocking for him. That was about 15 years ago & he still kept it!

Gosh, your dad looks great in that picture. I'm so sorry for your loss.

It's so tough to deal with losing a loved one but you guys have lost so many this past year. I do hope that you are all able to go on the trip to enjoy some happy memories!

I'm definitely subscribing. You know you can't get rid of me!

Click to expand...

Thanks Bridget. He was doing so well. But, he had lung disease. He couldn't last forever. He had a framed picture of Jimny Cricket on his wall. He always used to sing that song. Even when I was little. I think I really believed he would live to 103 like he was recently singing. I have the picture now. It should hang in my Disney room, but at the moment it is in my dining room.

We shall do our best to get to Disney, but we will have to see as time goes how our youngest is dealing with her bday approaching and no Bumpa here. Being at WDW may be better, or it may be worse. We will have to judge as it gets closer. For now I will plan as if we are going.

Now on with the plans.
Shortly after returning from a wonderful fall trip I began to realize I cant go 2 years without returning. It is my happy place. I am most content when planning. So, at first I sulked. Then I thought how oh how
THEN I researched. What was the amount of DVC points we actually have available, and just how long of a stay could we possibly squeeze out of them. Maybe just a weekend? Even that would be good. Then DD wouldnt have to miss school. The college kids probably wouldnt be able to come anyway. Just the 3 of us in a studio for a weekend. Hmmmm... Maybe that would work MAYBE we had just enough points for a weekend trip.

So, I logged into the dvc website and began to research. 94 that is how many points we have left for the 2013 use year. 94. It usually takes apprx 250 points for our entire family to spend 8 days in the fall. I began to look into how many points it would take for a studio over one of DDs school breaks. Winter break nope. Spring ah no. No I dont think so. Maybe during the summer. OH, I have been in the summer, but I just hate the heat AND the crowds. I could do one or the other, but both? Sitting in a wheelchair in the heat for 40 minutes in line for a ride I cant ride. Just does not sound appealing. Thats when it hit me. The losses. The sadness my youngest has had to experience in such a short time. Two grandparents & an "uncle" in 10months, (at the time).I could sit in the heat forever if she could get a break from that. That did it. I had to try to make it happen. Her birthday is in August. We have gone on DH bday, our anniversary, the triplets high school graduation. She has watched longingly as the CMs paid extra attention to us. As we receive cupcakes, and confetti. I have always told her there is no way I can make it through the heat and humidity of August. She would never expect it. SO, I began to look at points for August. Would it be possible to be there for her actual birthday?
Could I sustain when it was 2 hot to trot, wheel, walk, ride the rides. None of it mattered .but I do really really hate the heat and humidity in the chair. Could I stick to this? (no pun intended). Or will I back out. Would I look for an excuse to change the dates to the fall?

Yes! Let's try! I've posted my itinerary on my PTR - I believe I have it linked in my Table of Contents (I better double check)... If not, I will do that this morning. Then you can see if any of our days overlap. I'd love to do a meet!

Yes! Let's try! I've posted my itinerary on my PTR - I believe I have it linked in my Table of Contents (I better double check)... If not, I will do that this morning. Then you can see if any of our days overlap. I'd love to do a meet!

D~

Click to expand...

I read a lot of your PTR, but wow that is alot of pages. I am still catching up, but I did just review your agenda. Nothing on target with our plans yet, but I also change mine. I am going to try to eat at BOG for lunch one of the days, so we may be at MK more days than I was planning. We shall see.

BTW, I love the new peace bag. I have an old peace, love & mickey mouse hat I refuse to give up. It is sooooo old. But, I love it so much, can't bring myself to part with it.

We could do it. We had enough points for a studio in August for the 3 of us. For SIX nights!! WOOHOO. So, I began to look at airfare. Our van was too old to make the trip I was afraid. So, now the challenge was the airfare. I knew we had some credits in my Jetblue account left over from when our November trips prices went down after I had booked. But, there was no way we could get 3 tickets round trip. So, I began to watch the airfares. I hadnt made the DVC ressies yet, because I wanted to make sure we could afford the airfare. Then it happened. $79. Airfare from Providence to Orlando! I checked the credits and I had enough for 2 flights. 2 shoot. If only I could get 3. Then maybe, just maybe I could justify buying the return flights. So, close. Providence isnt our favorite airport, but it is doable. If only I could get 1 more. Just for kicks and giggles I checked my Jetblue reward points. I had enough! With about 1500 left over! I couldnt believe it! I booked right then and there 3 flights from Providence to Orlando. ON HER ACTUAL BIRTHDAY! Well, I already had a scheme in the works. Whenever we ask our sweetie pie what she would like for dinner she comes out with, Tonys, or more recently Be Our Guest, or Caseys hot dogs. So, DH & I decided we would tell her we will take her wherever she wants to go for dinner since it is her big 1-0 bday. She is sure to say one of the Disney restaurants. So, we will be all packed and take her to the airport! I became so very very excited. DH too was thrilled with the idea. Then the problems arouse .

1st problem school.... When did school start again? Once upon a time it was after Labor Day, but I am certain that is seldom the case any more. So... if it is the 26th or before... we would have to cancel or try to reschedule.

Well, the sun and high 40 degree temps melted alot of the snow today.
The sun shining in the windows got me a bit in the mood to write, so this maybe long...

Here I was with the tickets to Orlando. No room booked yet, so that was of course the next thing to do. Then the return flight tickets. We wont need passes as the 3 of us have APs. So, after the return flight tickets it will be booking dining.
Which dvc room to stay? I logged on again to the dvc website and began the search for the special birthday trips lodging. I love OKW. But, then again we usually have 6 of us, so the extra large room and full size washer and dryer are selling points within their own right. This time however it would just be the 3 of us. Studios dont have washer/dryer. If I had 1 wish to change about a studio it would be to put a washer/dryer set up in it. But, things are things & I will just have to use the laundry facilities once or twice before coming home. I hate coming home from vacation and having to spend the next couple days catching up on laundry. Plus I HATE packing dirtly laundry.
So, back to resort choosing. Lets review our choices. AKL,(animal kingdom lodge, BCV(beach club villas), VWL(villas wilderness lodge) which we have never stayed at.
Then there is OKW (Old key west)(as previously stated one of my favorites),
BWV(boardwalk villa)- which we love too. We stayed in a studio for a couple nights our last trip and loved it very much. The close location to EPCOT and DHS is a huge plus. Especially if we dont rent a car.
BLT(baylake tower)  also a plus with walking distance to MK. Room views are beautiful
SSR(Saratoga springs resort)  our home resort and we will make our initial reservation here to ensure we have something in the studio category for our dates. With DVC you can book your home resort 11 months out. Other resorts booking are allowed at 7 months out. So on occasion the choice resort may not be available at the 7 month window. So, the plan is to book SSR, then at 7 months attempt to get our 1st choice. If we cant SSR is nothing to sneeze at. We enjoy it very much and it is walking distance to DTD. Which is a very peaceful walking trail.
sorry, this isn't the most lovely of SSR pictures, but for some reason I didn't take a photo of the outside of SSR & the we stayed in a GV last trip so most of the interior photo's, well... they wouldn't reflect our option for this trip very well.